ABSTRACT
Every conceptual theory (Section 3.1) has its own characteristic vocabulary. For instance, the alchemo-phlogiston theory has 'phlogiston' as its central term. Benjamin Franklin's theory of electricity is based on the notion of electric fluid. In contrast, contemporary theory of electricity is built on the notion of electrons. The meaning of these characteristic terms are determined by the theory in which they serve. Let us have an example. Newton introduced the terms 'mass', 'force', 'space' and 'time' in his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. The words themselves were not new at the time of Newton.1 But the terms of which these words are mere outer appearances were inventions of this great scientist. For instance, Newton defined 'time' and 'space' as follows:
It is these definitions and the laws of motion, and the ways that these words and laws are used in their applications in experiments and observations2 that give meaning to these terms. Thus, we can say that each conceptual theory determines a language. Since we are not using the term 'language' in the same sense as when one says that English and French are languages, let us call such languages 'conceptual languages' since they are the products of conceptual theories.3
